Spying for Dragons
by Csillan.Rose
Summary: The wizards are at it again. This time, though, Daystar and Shiara need the help of a very unlikely person... One of the wizards themselves!
1. Meet the Wizard

**_Spying _for _Dragons..._**

(Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me. It all belongs to Patricia C. Wrede...well, except for Samiel)

(A/N: The first chapter is going to be really short, and I'm sorry about that! I usually update every day to every other day, and the next chapter will be longer. Please R&R)

**Chapter One: Meet the Wizard**

I'm not a bad person...Truly, I'm not. It's not _my _fault my father forced me to become a wizard.

And that's what I am. A wizard. All because of a stupid mix-up when my father was drunk.

That, actually, is probably the sad story of my life. My name is Samiel... Either my father couldn't spell 'Samuel' or he staggered home when he was drunk and asked my mother, "When's 'sa meal going to be ready?" and decided he liked it. I don't know how this came to be my name, but it definitely wasn't his creative effort.

When I was little, I always wanted to be someone famous. At first, I wanted to be a hero.

That lasted until about the time I was twelve, when I actually _met_ my first hero. It was then I realized that stupidity seemed to run in their blood. No, a hero wasn't the job for me.

Then, I wanted to be a magician. That lasted about a month, actually. I tried to read a book on being a magician, but I couldn't figure out what half of the words were. That ended any thoughts of that particular job.

Next, I decided I was going to become a renouned swordsman. I practiced day and night with a wooden practice sword until I was about seventeen. Then, sadly, I realized that I couldn't even _lift_ a real sword, let alone use it.

And so it continued. I liked a job, I tried it out, I hated the job.

One night, I came home after helping a neighbor with her animal menagerie. Well, maybe not a real _menagerie_, but she had loads of animals, some of which could talk. She had wanted help with her new pet lizard, because she couldn't figure out what it ate.

When I finally got home, it was really late. My mother had gone to sleep, and my father had just gotten home from drinking date with his buddies.

"Wher'v you been?" he slurred when I walked in the door.

"I was helping Mrs. Nelvin with her new pet lizard."

" 'Eh?" My father asked thickly, staring drunkenly past me with a stupid smile on his face.

"LIZARD." I said loudly.

"Wizard? Why o' course. Perfect job. Wizard. You'll be a wizard."

With that, my idiot of a father stumped out of the house.

I stared after him, dumbfounded. After a few moments, I reassured myself. He wouldn't _actually_ find a wizard. No, he'd probably get lost and stagger home in the morning.

With that, I went up to bed, certain I was right.

I wasn't.

The next morning when I came down the stairs, my father and mother were in the kitchen, as usual. However, there was also another man there.

"Gotcher a wizard." Dad said proudly.

I tripped over the last step. "You _what?_"

The man looked shrewdly at me, eyes glinting. He was dressed in blue robes and held a stick.

"So, you want to join the ranks of the wizards, do you?" He asked smoothly. His voice was smooth and precise, and I could tell right away that he was not a nice person.

"A-actually, father just heard wron-"

I bit the end of my sentence off at the wizard's look. He wasn't someone to mess with, and he wouldn't take no for an answer. Briefly, I imagined what I'd look like if I contradicted him. It wasn't pretty.

"Er...yeah." I ended lamely. I knew I should have said no. I really should have. But no turning back now...

And that was it. Immediately, I was taken to the wizard's council. They apparently decided that I was worthy, and made me a wizard. I have the staff and everything.

Wizards, as you know, have a pretty nasty reputation...and for good reason. The first council meeting that I ever attended, they were already plotting to capture someone named "Shiara" and demand the King of the Enchanted Forest to take whatever spell he had on his kingdom that prevented the wizards to soak up magic into their staffs away.

Or something like that.

Personally, I've never used any magic. It just seems...wrong. Kind of like stealing. One of the first things that I learned was that wizards took magic from other people or things and used it as their own.

So maybe I was stuck being a wizard, but I wasn't actually going to **_be_** a wizard.

I didn't like what the wizards were plotting.

I didn't like how they decided to fulfill their plan.

Heck, I didn't even like _them._

And yet, I was one of the wizards elected to do the dirty work and capture the girl. How did that work? I still don't know...

All I knew was that I really, really, really didn't want to help. Actually, I wanted to _stop_ them. The problem was, I was trapped. I couldn't stop them if I tried. There was nothing whatsoever that I could do.

As I sat alone after the meeting, I sighed.

Suddenly, I really wished I had decided to be a hero...

(A/N: Yeah, like I said, it's really short. And I'm really sorry about that, but the next chapters are longer. Please, R&R!)


	2. How Not to Kidnap a Princess

**Chapter Two: How Not to Kidnap a Princess**

Shiara was just trying to cook dinner, (she wasn't particularly good at it...), when there was a loud knock on the door.

Whirling around, the fire witch glared daggers at it. This was the third time she had been interrupted in _one night._ She was about to slam the door open and yell at the idiot out there to go away before she told a dragon to eat him, but she calmed herself. No, it wouldn't due to scream and yell. She had to be polite...

Shiara stomped over to the door and threw it open. "What do you want?"

Just as she had suspected, a knight stood there.

"I-I'm here to rescue Princess Shiara from a dragon...is she in?"

"_I'm _Shiara, you nitwit, but I'm not a princess. Now, if you would, please leave me alone. Kazul wants something called Cherries Jubilee, which apparently Cimorene was good at making, and I think I've already messed it up..."

"Oh...uh... Cherries Jubilee? That's my favorite. You can't possibly mess it up." The knight said, attempting to be polite.

"I put vinegar in instead of vanilla."

"Ah. No, that would about do it."

"Great, that means I have to start over..." Shiara sighed. you leave...say, _now_?"

"R-right away..." The knight hurried off.

The fire witch slammed the door behind him and went off to restart Kazul's dessert.

xxxxx

I suppose I might have been chosen because I was the only one who was willing to leave his staff behind. I actually _wanted_ to get rid of the darn thing...

Apparently, dragons were allergic to wizard staffs, so I was the obvious choice to kidnap the girl.

It would be easy, the wizards assured me, heroes rescued princesses all the time. If they could do it, then _surely_ I could.

I wanted to remind them that heroes also happened to have nice, sharp weapons, and all I had was a few rocks I had picked up on the way.

No, all in all, this wasn't turning out very good.

To top it all off, another wizard had written down what I was supposed to say, and half way there I realized I couldn't even read his handwriting.

So much for an easy job...

xxxxx

Shiara was just carefully adding the cherries when there came a few, faint knocks on the door.

She dropped the bag of cherries and stared incredulously at the entrance. _Four rescuers in one evening?_ It was unheard of. It was also very distracting, and very rude, and Shiara had a mind to tell them so.

The fire witch strode over to the door and flung it open. "Do you _know_ how hard it is to make a dessert for a dragon when people keep _interrupting me all the time?_ Don't you idiots ever get it into your head that I don't _want_ to be rescued? If you truly want to rescue some slip of a princess, go next door. She's been bugging me for ages."

Shiara finished and got her first real look at the person.

She looked him up and down, and then said quite bluntly, "You don't even _look_ like a prince. Or a hero, for that matter."

The young man grinned weakly. "I think I'll take that as a compliment."

"So if you're not here to rescue me, why are you here?" the fire witch demanded.

"Uhm..." the man squinted at a little piece of paper. "I've come to give you a nap...no, that's not it...I've come to check on the kids...shoot, no...Er... Ah! Yes, of course. I've come to kidnap you."

Shiara snorted. "Oh, yeah? Well, you're certainly doing a good job of it."

"Am I?" he asked vaguely. "Well, that's good, because they'd kill me if I didn't."

"Who?"

"The wi- w- winning, uh, dragons. That's it. I'm not here to kidnap you at all. Kidnap is just a term..." the man cleared his throat, "Meaning...to take you to some dragons who...want dessert." He smiled hopefully.

Well, you had to give the guy credit, Shiara thought, he was a good listener...just a terribly bad liar. She crossed her arms. "Oh, do they? What does your paper say to do next?"

It says...sit and hurl...no, of course not, um...hit girl until red and talk. No...that's not it either. I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive me, his handwriting is awfully messy..."

"How about, Hit girl on head with rock?"

The man frowned, squinted at his paper, then smiled. "I say, that's it! How did you kno-"

Shiara hit him over the head with a frying pan, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

After doing this, she realized that she probably should have asked more about him. Still, she had a feeling that he was up to something, and it definitely wasn't something good...

She'd have to wait until Kazul got back to question him.

xxxxx

When I awoke, the first thing I saw was a huge, golden eye. Not a very good sign.

"Uh...er...Hi?" I squeaked. The dragon grinned at me, which exposed all of its teeth.

I gulped.

"Um. Pretty day we're having, isn't it?"

"It's night outside."

"Ah." I glanced over at the entrance, where the door was slightly ajar. "So it is."

The dragon didn't mess around.

"What did you want with my princess?"

"Well, nothing really...she isn't truly a princess, is she? I mean, I heard she was a-"The dragon's eyes narrowed, and I bit off the rest of my sentence. "I mean, of _course_ she's a

princess- and a very pretty one, I might add- and if you'd let me, I'll be going now-"

As I took a step towards the door, the girl called Shiara stepped in my way.

"Oh, going so soon? I thought that the...what was it?... 'winning dragons' would be angry with you if you didn't 'kidnap' me."

"Oh yes...them...well, if I can help it, I won't ever see the 'winning dragons' again, so-"

I took a step passed her, only to find the dragon was now blocking the entrance...or, in my case, the exit.

"And you forgot to introduce yourself to Kazul. That's terribly rude, considering that she's the king of the dragons."

I could feel my eyes widen. The _king_ of the dragons? Oh, this definitely wasn't good. I _knew_ those wizards weren't telling me something. But something wasn't quite right with that sentence...

"_She?"_

"Yes, she. King is just the name of the job. It doesn't matter whether the dragon is male or female."

"Oh. I'm...pleased to meet you, your majesty. I'm Samiel."

"Samiel as in, 'I look like a great 'sameal'?" The dragon grinned again.

"Ah, no...I think you may have interpreted that wrong-"I was sweating now. "Really, I mean no harm, and if you'd just let me leave-"

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly do that." Kazul said, "My princess read your little piece of paper out loud. It seems it's signed by 'the great wizard Therinive.'"

I had forgotten about that. Now, I knew I was in trouble. Wizards weren't allowed in the Mountains of Morning. "Er...well, that's over exaggerating a bit, I think. He's really not that great."

"But this means that you're a wizard as well, am I correct?"

I shifted uncomfortably. "Would it be better to say that I was a 'winning dragon'?"

Kazul actually smiled at that. Not a very comforting smile, (her teeth looked exceedingly sharp), but a smile nonetheless. "Perhaps. Where is your staff?"

"I...I...left it with the wizard council." This wasn't looking good, and was promising to get worse still. I thought half-heartedly of the pebbles I had in my pocket.

"I see. In any case, you're trapped, aren't you?"

"I suppose." I tried to look exceedingly small, which was quite easy, considering I was next to a dragon.

"Well, well...what will we do with you..."

Yes, it was definitely getting worse.


	3. Deals With Dragons

(A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! I hope you enjoy this new chapter!)

**Chapter Three: Deals with Dragons**

"Hmmm. Shiara, what should we do with him? You know how much I hate wizards..."

"But I didn't want to be a wizard!" I cried helplessly.

"I don't know...He'd probably give you indigestion."

"Yes, probab-" Kazul broke off and gave me a sharp look. "You what?"

"I wanted to be...well...something else. I don't know. I always had problems with finding a job, but then my father-"  
And I told them my whole sad story. I was kind of hoping that, you know, they'd take pity on me a little bit.

"-and I didn't even like what they were doing. Truly, I didn't! But I also didn't really have a choice." I finished dismally.

"I have an idea." Shiara grinned. "I know what we can do with him!"

Kazul frowned. "What? I'm not very hungry at the moment. Just the smell of whatever you were cooking made me lose my appetite."

"I don't want you to eat him. I think-"The fire witch leaned over and whispered something into the dragon's ear. Kazul nodded in agreement, then Shiara whispered something else.

I whimpered. Really, I didn't mean to, but I couldn't help it.Things were really starting to look bad for me.

My only hope was that the end would come quickly. And painlessly.

Now Shiara was finished whatever she had been saying. Both her and Kazul were staring at me, both smiling.

I was in for it now.

xxxxx

"So let me get this straight." I said slowly, "You want me to pretend to be spying for the wizards on you, but actually be spying for you on the wizards?"

Shiara nodded triumphantly.

"And I won't get eaten?" -What? I just wanted to make sure.

The fire witch rolled her eyes. I was getting the feeling that she was losing her patience with me. "No, you won't get eaten."

"Great, I'd love to!" I agreed.

"Perfect."

"Er...I hope it wouldn't be too much bother to tell me, but..."

"What _now?_"

"What am I doing, exactly?"

Shiara glared at me, and wouldn't talk. Kazul told me instead.

"You are going to go back to the wizards-"(I didn't like this part), "And tell them that you tried to kidnap Shiara, but she and I were away visiting the King of the Enchanted Forest."

I was about to ask who _that_ was, but I decided not to interrupt.

"Then, you are going to suggest that you go to the castle in disguise and spy on what the king is doing, then become one of his friends, and finally, when he isn't paying attention, try to steal his sword."

By now, I was extremely confused. "What sword is this?"

My memory drifted back to those unpleasant times when I had wanted to be a renouned swordsman. I was just thinking about how _heavy_ swords were when Kazul continued.

"Aren't you _listening?_ The Sword of the Enchanted Forest!"

"Ah. That sword." I still had no clue what she was talking about.

"You're going to say you need to keep in contact with them so that you can tell them how you're doing. That way, you can tell us what they're up to so that we're ready for them."

"Great. Now what was this about a sword?"

"FORGET the sword!"

"Okay." I squeaked.

"Now, I am going to put a tracker on you. Don't worry about it, it's only a magical artifact that will let the dragons see what you're doing."

Oh, Great. Nothing to worry about there.

"There Shiara is now. She went to get it."

"Huh?" I turned around. I hadn't realized that the fire witch had been gone until Kazul said something.

"Hold still." Shiara demanded. She was holding something that looked like a small six-pointed blue gem. It was so tiny that it sat on her fingertip comfortably.

"Is this going to hurt?" I eyed the speck distrustfully.  
"Not at all." Before I could say anything else, Shiara pressed the thing to the back of my neck. It kind of tickled.

"Good." Kazul said, sounding annoyingly satisfied, "Do you remember everything I told you?"

"Yes." I lied.

"Okay, then, you're free to go." The King of the Dragons stepped away from the entrance.

I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Just when I reached the doors, Kazul cried back, "And remember- The dragons are watching you!"

I gulped.

xxxxx

The wizards were waiting to greet me when I got out of the Mountains of Morning.

"Where is the girl?" the lead wizard demanded.

"She...she, uh-"I tried to remember what the dragon had told me. "She...wasn't there."

"Oh really?" he wasn't buying it.

"She and her d-dragon were visiting the castle...visiting The King of the Enchanted Forest, I mean."

The lead wizard frowned. "That sounds realistic...but how did _you_ know where they were?"

"I...I, er...read a note that the dragon left for...one of her friends."

"Great." The wizard cursed. "What do we do now? This messes up our entire plan!"

"We could just wait till they got back-"One of the others began, but the lead wizard shook his head.

"No, no...that could be _days_! What should we do..."

"I think..." I began hesitantly. The wizards all looked at me.

I tried vainly to recall what I was supposed to say. For some reason, all I could remember was, "The dragons are watching you."

"Yes?" the wizards were waiting for me to say something.

Then, suddenly- miraculously- I remembered.

"Maybe someone could go in disguise to the castle."

The wizard appeared to think about this.

"Perhaps that would work...but we'd never get the girl out of there unnoticed..."

"M-maybe we don't really need to kidnap the girl. Maybe we can take...take...something else." I stuttered. My memory was vague on this point.

"Like _what?_" the lead wizard snapped irritably.

"A...sort of weapon, maybe? Does the king like weapons? Because I know it was something to do with a kind of weapon-"

The lead wizard wasn't listening to me. Instead, he was smiling greedily, eyes alight.

"We can steal the sword!"

That was it...the sword!

"Yes, the sword." I agreed vigorously, "The Sword of the...um...Magical Tree..."

"Enchanted Forest."

"Yes, that."

The lead wizard eyed me suspiciously. "And I suppose that _you're _the one to do it?"  
"Do what?"

"Steal the sword."

Uh oh. He was on to me. "M-me? I don't think that-"

"Perfect. Thank you for volunteering. Of course, we'll have to get you some normal clothes. And you'll have to leave your staff behind again."  
I tried not to sigh in relief. "I-I..."

"Well, you're the best choice. After all, you don't even have a beard, and you certainly don't _look_ much like a wizard-"

I decided to take this as a compliment.

"Oh, _fine_, I'll do it. But only if someone other than Therinive writes down what I'm supposed to do. I can't read his handwriting."

"Done."

xxxxx

"Well, he didn't bungle it up _too_ badly. And the wizards didn't figure out what had happened and kill him." Kazul told Shiara triumphantly, looking up from a large, flat blue crystal that was showing the events. "I won the bet. You owe me."


	4. A Wizard Incognito

(A/N: I'm really sorry I haven't updated in _forever_. The thing is, I think I almost _forgot_ about this one! Lol, I was in my inbox yesterday, and I was reading the last review I got for this. I sat there and looked at it, and was like, "What the heck is _this _for!" …Then I remembered. Wow, I haven't updated in SO long! Anyway, here's chapter four. ((looks sheepish))

* * *

**Chapter Four: A Wizard Incognito**

"There. Looks just like a commoner." The head wizard announced, taking a step back to look at me. "Don't you think?"

Another wizard nodded. "Looks pretty common to me."

I glared at him.

"Good! Now, do you remember what you're supposed to do?"

I hesitated, trying to remember which plan I was supposed to be reciting. "Erm…yeah…I go into the castle, and say I'm a … a…"

"Distant relation of Shiara."

"Oh, yes, that's it. I'm a distant relation of Shiara. Unfortunately, I didn't get any of the fire witch blood. Then I make friends with the son of the king, Nightsun, or whatever—"

"Daystar."

"Yeah, him. Then I…" the two stories were starting to merge. "I, um…Report back to the dragons…No! I meant, I report back to _you_, of course! Haha, dragons…" I smiled weakly. The head wizard gave me a suspicious look, but motioned for me to continue.

"I report back to you on how things are going. As soon as I'm good enough friends with Daystar, I ask him if I can see his father's sword." I paused, "You know, that sounds kind of silly now that I think—"

"Continue."

"Yeah…sorry…Anyway, then I tell Shiara that everything is going well, and we don't have to worry about the wi…wi—" Oh, shoot…wrong story again. I hurried on, "About any wizards, because I'm best friends with Daystar, and, um, can protect him…"

The head wizard gave me an odd look.

"I was improvising." I muttered.

"Right… Now back to the plan."

"Right, I steal the sword, or whatever, and give it to you. Then I go back to the castle, because they don't know it's me that stole it, and make up a story about how I saw someone trying to steal it, and I attempted to stop them but they got away. I tell the king that they ran outside and gave it to a dragon."

"Perfect. Well, close enough, for you." The head wizard rummaged around in a bag of some sort. "Now, hold still while I put this on you, so we can make sure you're doing everything right—"

I stumbled back a few feet and tripped over a rock. "But that means you both will be watching- I mean, all of the wizards will be watching me!"

"You have nothing to worry about as long as you do nothing wrong, and follow the plan."

Oh, _great_. Sure, nothing to worry about there! Oh, only, which plan was I supposed to follow?

The head wizard placed a little round, glassy black circle on the back of my hand. It lingered there for a moment, and then vanished.

I gulped.

"Now, on your way! Remember, don't mess anything up—The wizards are watching you!"

I wanted to cry.

xxxxx

I was inside of the enchanted forest, and _completely_ lost. The wizards had transported me here and one had drawn a map for me to look at. They said that they couldn't transport me any closer to the castle than this, or else the king would sense wizard magic. One of them had drawn me a map to look at.

If Therinive couldn't write, then this one _definitely_ couldn't draw maps.

Well, either that, or I just couldn't read it.

I turned the map around, wondering if it would look better upside down. No luck. It still looked like a bunch of little scribbles on a piece of paper.

I stood there for a while, trying to understand the map. It took me a while to realize I was being watched. (Well, not the normal being watched. I was _always_ being watched, by either the dragons or the wizards!)

"W-who's there?" I stuttered. Suddenly the image of a huge, terrible monster rose up into my mind.

"How did you get here?" The voice, which came from seemingly nowhere, sounded irritated.

"I…ran…"

There was a pause, and then, "That is a lie."

Uh oh.

"Well…yes…"  
"You weren't here one moment, and now here you are! How did you get here?"

I decided to tell the truth—twisted to make me sound okay. "Actually, well, a bunch of evil wizards transported me here, and now I'm lost."

There was another pause, then, "You're telling the truth!" The voice sounded amazed.

"Ye-es… Where are you?"

"Down here."

I looked down to see a little gold lizard about twice the size of my finger. I stared.

"It's not polite to stare, you know."

"Oh, I-I'm sorry…"

"You are?" the lizard stared up at me. "Why, yes, you are! How exciting!"

I didn't have much experience with the Enchanted Forest, but this thing was already scaring me.

After a moment, I knelt so that I was closer to the little demented lizard. "Uh, do you happen to know the way to the castle?"

"Why, yes I do!" the tiny creature balanced on its tail (which was half the size of it,) in order to get a better look at me. "What do you need to go to the castle for!"

Beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I couldn't say I was a distant relation of Shiara's, because it would know I was lying.

"I…I need to talk to the king, on behalf of…of the dragons…" Well, it was close enough. Hopefully, the wizards weren't watching too closely. Or else they figured that I had changed talking _about_ the dragons to talking _for _the dragons. Who knew? They'd twist it to work for them somehow…Something told me that they didn't believe that they could be tricked.

"You do?" The little lizard squinted up at me, "Why yes, you do! How amazing!"

I knew I couldn't step on it, but it was so tempting…

"Yes, it's important. Can you help me?"

"I'm very busy…but it's not far…of course I can help you!"  
"Great, thanks. Lead on…what's your name?"

"Why, it's Suz!"

"Lead on, Suz."

xxxxx

The demented lizard was as good as its word (not that I thought it would lie). It led me straight to the castle, and straight to the king. Then it left, because apparently it was too busy to hang around. (This didn't bother me too much, though.)

King Mendenbar looked me over. "So, you're here on behalf of the dragons?"

I swallowed hard. What was I to say? If I told him about the dragon's plan, the wizards would kill me, and if I _didn't_ follow the dragon's plan, then the dragons would kill me!

I cleared my throat.

"Well…"

* * *

(A/N: Yay! I updated! Lol, I hope the next update comes soon. I've been wrapped up with my Phantom of the Opera fanfiction, and forgot about the other ones. Hopefully the next update for this one will be within a week or two!)

…Hilary…


	5. Shiara's Cousin

(A/N: Ughh, Sorry for not updating for a little while again. The next update will be as soon as tomorrow, and as late as Easter. I _promise_ that I'll try as hard as I can to update ASAP. Sorry again!)

* * *

**Chapter Five: Shiara's Cousin**

"Well… uh… you see, it's kind of funny…there was this… and they sent…" I felt the color draining from my face as I struggled to find something to say.

I fiddled with my hands, then hesitantly looked up at the king. He was still smiling. Suddenly, from the middle of no where, he winked.

For a moment I just stared at him, wondering if his eye itched. Then I realized what he was trying to say—He knew. The dragons had told him. I was safe to pretend I was going along with the wizard's plan.

"Uh, well, I'm a distant relation of Shiara's…"

xxxxx

The lead wizard, Zielin, sighed in relief as Samiel got back on track. For a moment he had been worried that the idiot had forgotten what he was supposed to say! Zielin frowned as he recalled the king's words.

"_So, the dragons sent you?"_

How had he known! Then Zielin recalled Suz. The little gold lizard must have told him the lie that Samiel had managed.

The head wizard smiled to himself. Perhaps Samiel would be able to pull this off, after all. He cleared his mind of thoughts and continued watching the events through a large mirror that was hanging on the wall of his office.

xxxxx

I was a little bit shaky at first. I wondered, once, how the dragons had figured out what the wizard's plan was… then I remembered that the dragons were watching me, too, and had probably heard the entire thing.

Dismissing these problems from my mind, I tried to concentrate on what to do. I had to make it _look_ like I was following the wizard's plan, without _actually_ doing what they said. It was even harder than it sounded.

King Mendenbar cleared his throat, and I quickly looked up.

"This is my son, Daystar." he announced, "He knows Shiara better than I do. Perhaps he can help you, Samiel. You are very welcome here." Mendenbar grinned, and I smiled weakly.

Daystar was actually about my age, with dark hair and a kind smile. I hoped that he knew what was going on, too. Otherwise, I was about to be in a lot of trouble.

"Hello, Samiel. So _you're_ Shiara's cousin. It's funny… you're just how I pictured you to be."

I chanced a glance at myself in the mirror. It wasn't how_ I _would picture a fire-witch's cousin. First of all, I didn't have red hair. Then there was the undeniable fact that I was small, skinny and shaking in my boots.

I gave Daystar a questioning look, but he just grinned and shook my hand. "Nice to meet you, Samiel. I hear that Shiara's friend took a liking to you. She told me herself that you looked _good enough to eat_."

I felt all of the color drain from my face again, realizing what he was implying. So he _did_ know. Well, that was good, but the fact that Kazul wouldn't mind eating me didn't exactly make me feel any better in the least.

"Y-yeah…" I gulped, "Hopefully she doesn't mean it, though."

Daystar just smiled.

xxxxx

I was given a tour of the castle (which really didn't help at all, because I immediately forgot everything the moment I was told.) The palace was extremely confusing, with its many staircases and curving corridors. I got the feeling that I was only being showed this so that they made sure I could see for myself that I had no chance of escaping.

As if I would even try! No, with both of the dragons and the wizards watching me 24-7, there was no doubt that I wouldn't be able to get very far without being killed on the spot.

I shuffled my feet as I walked, and stared at the ground. At the moment, Daystar was having a grand old time showing me the double security locks.

Suddenly he trailed off, staring behind me with a somewhat surprised, (though undoubtedly happy), look on his face.

I turned around to see…

Oh no. Not _her!_

"Cousin!" Shiara shouted, running all of the way down the corridor and throwing her arms around me. "The king told me you were here! Oh, I'm so happy to see you!"

I blinked at her, not returning the hug. Eventually, she stopped.

_What the heck was wrong with her!_

"It's nice to see you too, c-cous…" Oh, gosh… _cousin!_ I was supposed to be a distant relation. That was going to be my excuse if she didn't recognize me. I wondered what the wizards were thinking right now, because she _had _recognized me. I hoped this hadn't blown my cover…

xxxxx

Daystar pulled Shiara aside while Samiel stood in the middle of the corridor with a dazed, (and, of course, scared) look on his face.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered quickly, making sure that Samiel couldn't hear him. If Samiel heard him, then chances were the wizards could hear him, too."

"Well, it's a shot in the dark, but we figured the wizards would believe that I am a dim-wit. Some of them used to know me, but the leader won't listen. Since I'm supposedly a "princess" now, we thought that he would probably assume I'm like all of the others."

"But _what_ are you doing here?"

"Keeping an eye on Samiel. Kazul wanted me to make sure he didn't betray us, or try to trick us."

Daystar raised an eyebrow. "_Him?_"

Both of their gazes went to Samiel, who was busily watching a fly buzz around nearby, apparently determining how dangerous it could be.

Shiara fought back a smile. "Yes, well, you never know."

Daystar caught the fly and set it loose outside. Samiel looked relieved, but appeared to notice that they had been having a conversation. He frowned.

"Well, I'm glad you're here." Daystar said loudly.

Shiara smirked. "So am I."

xxxxx

Zielin had to admit, he was slightly confused over the whole situation. How had Princess Shiara known him?...

…But then, she _was _a princess, and princesses weren't exactly known for their intelligence.

One of the wizards who saw this take place cleared his throat uneasily. "My lord, Shiara… She shouldn't know him—"

Zielin shrugged. "She's a princess. Princesses are generally beautiful and stupid, remember?"

"Generally… but not this one. She was responsible for some of the wizard deaths from a little while ago—"

Zielin shrugged. "So were some of the heroes. That doesn't make them clever, does it?"

"But she—"

"Hush, Rynid."

"Yes, sir, but I believe that something isn't right, here."

"I said be quiet! Everything is fine."

Rynid frowned, but said nothing.

* * *

(A/N: Yay, I updated! Now I have to update on a few more stories, and everything will be happy and grand! )

Hilary -


	6. A Secret Message

(A/N: Wow… I'm so sorry that it took even longer than _usual_ to update this! Hopefully I will be able to update again at _least_ sometime within the month! Lol… wow…)

* * *

**Chapter Six: A Secret Message**

_-The Next Morning-_

I fiddled with a quill that was on a desk in my new room, thinking over what I was supposed to do. Next on the list: make friends with Daystar and steal the sword. Well, not _really_, of course… but how was I supposed to _pretend_ to steal a sword? You couldn't steal it, and yet not steal it, could you?

I sighed—I was as good as dead. There was no way _anyone_ could pull this off—let alone me! I had messed up almost everything in my life so far, and probably wouldn't start getting things right now.

There was a knock on my door, and I jumped about a mile high. Then I reasoned that it was probably Daystar checking up on me. Good, I could use this time to become friends with him. I started to go over to the door to open it for him, but it opened before I even got to it.

A medium-sized man with black hair walked in, smiling at me. I had no clue who he was, so I gave him a weak smile back, wondering what he wanted. He bowed politely, and I bowed back, just barely keeping my balance.

"Hello! My name is Telemain." he announced, eyes sparkling. "I heard that Shiara's cousin was visiting, and I just couldn't help but stop by. After all, Shiara is a close friend of mine. I am the resident magician, in case you were wondering."

I had been. The man seemed really friendly, but as soon as he started off about me being Shiara's cousin I winced. Brilliant—what if he started talking about Shiara? I didn't know _anything_ about her! That would be a dead giveaway. Suddenly I realized that he was still talking. "What?" I asked, feeling my face become warm.

He paused, then said, "I said, I was wondering if you would like to hear about what I've been researching lately—" (I really didn't care much, but he continued before I could say so) "You see, I've been studying coded messages."

I forced a smile. Goodie…I was about to get a lecture, I could tell. Telemain, however, was just staring at me with a slightly worried look on his face. After a moment, he said, "Hmm…you phased out again, didn't you?" I was about to say no, but he hurried on. "I said, I've been studying _coded messages_."

Then it clicked. He wasn't here to lecture me—he was here to give me a secret message! Jeez, I was slow sometimes. "Really? Funny, I've always been really interested in them! Could you tell me about what you've learned?"

Telemain looked relieved. Apparently, I wasn't quite as stupid as he thought I would be. Or, worse—I wasn't quite as stupid as he _heard_ that I was. "Of course! I'd love to." And then he started to ramble about something that I didn't understand. I was about to tell him that, when suddenly I realized that I didn't _have_ to understand it. He was emphasizing certain words… those were the ones I was supposed to pick out. I started to listen intently. When I realized that this was going to be rather long, I interrupted and asked if I could take notes. When he said yes, I began to write down the words he was emphasizing, hoping that the wizards didn't see what I was writing.

"Coded messages are a variety of communication used **when** you don't want an individual to comprehend what **you** are stating. For instance: If you **go **beyond adversary defenses **to** **steal** information, and you inscribe a message to your side, you will require it to be in code. Codes are reminiscent to **the **blade of a double-edged **sword**—they function well whilst employed correctly, but if a personage deciphers them, you are subsequently pressed into an appalling dilemma. **I** **will** share the personal experience I **have** with this. Perhaps **another **day you may possibly find it helpful. **One **occasion whilst I was in warfare with the wizards a long time ago, my commanding officer asked me if I was **ready** to sneak into their encampment and pilfer their strategies. **It **was an enormous situation, and I was thrilled. I thought, _"What an honor it _**is** _to be _**an**_ undercover agent for my side. Perhaps I have even _**advanced**_ a level!"_ So, of course, I accepted. When I was operating as an emissary, I exposed a **prototype** of a novel weapon** that **they were going to use. I thought, _"This _**will**_be important information for my side. I shall send them a coded message to _**fool the wizards**_."_ Anyway, I wrote a code but someone deciphered it and I got caught. Luckily I escaped later. You may have to make a choice of which code to use later on in your life, but don't worry about it. **You will know which it is when you see it. **However, I must take my leave at the moment, the king wishes to have a word with me. Perhaps I'll get a chance to talk with you shortly. Good day!"

xxxxx

Zielin stared at Telemain through the mirror. The other wizards who were there (there were always _some_ wizards watching Samiel at all times) were staring as well…the ones that were still awake.

"My _god_ that man can ramble!" Zielin said at length. "I get the feeling that Samiel is lucky that he got called away. He probably would have gone on like that until the next meal!"

Rynid stared at the piece of paper he had clutched in one hand, eyes narrowed. He was apart from the other wizards, in a shadowy corner. When he heard Telemain begin to talk, he had picked up on something strange about the way he had been speaking. Now, as he stared down at the paper, he knew he had been right. It had been a message… which meant that Samiel had betrayed them! How? And when?

"Sir," he began, walking up to Zielin, "I think there is something you should see…"

"Not now, Rynid." the head wizard told him irritably, "I have other things to accomplish. You, you, and you," he pointed out three wizards, "Stay here and watch Samiel. I'll be back in a little bit."

Rynid glanced back down at the paper, and then pocketed it. Well then, if Zielin wouldn't listen to him… he would have to do something about it _himself_!

xxxxx

The next time there was a knock on my door, it really_ was_ Daystar. I must admit, I was completely pleased… I was worried that Telemain had come back to finish the job he had started: to talk my ears off. If I hadn't known that it were a secret message, I probably would have made up an excuse to leave the moment he started talking.

Daystar smiled politely at me as he entered. "Hey Samiel… we figured you might be lonely, so we decided to drop by for a chat."

_We?_

I felt my face drop and just barely restrained a groan as Shiara came in behind him. Instead, I forced a grin that I knew probably looked fake. "Uh… great. So, er, what are we going to talk about?"

"How about _dragons_?" Shiara asked, an evil smirk stealing across her face, "I've always been _fascinated_ about dragons. Their sharp teeth, razor-like claws, their ability to burn traitors to a crisp…"

Daystar discreetly stepped on Shiara's foot, and she stopped. "Or," he said, "We could talk about something else."

I hoped that the relief didn't show on my face. "Y-yes… preferably something else. Something, uh, less vicious. How about… I don't know," I racked my brain for the least violent thing that I could think of. "How about birds, or rabbits…"

"Queen Cimorene knew a rabbit once," Shiara interrupted, "His name was Killer…"

"Or not." I added hastily.

Daystar sent a pointed glare at Shiara, who just smiled innocently back at him. "Maybe we can talk about _swords_," he suggested, "Do you have any interest in swords?"

I was about to say no, I didn't have any interest in swords at all, and actually I wouldn't mind never seeing any weapon at all ever again…when I realized what he was implicating. "Oh! Um, sure! I _love_ swords."

"That's great! My father has an armory full of them—most of them ceremonial, you understand—if you want to go and take a look at them."

I nodded vigorously. _Thank you, Daystar, for making my life just a little bit easier._

Not a lot easier, of course… I still had to steal a fake sword, take it to the wizards, pretend that I was pretending to tell the king that the dragons stole the sword, and then start a war that wasn't really a war.

No problem. No problem at all.

* * *

(A/N: Please tell me what you think:) 

Hilary


	7. Stealthily Stealing Shiny Sham Swords

(A/N: Can you believe it? I'm back. Don't even bother to answer that… I can't believe I'm back, either! I told myself I was going to quit. That I was going to work on my novels and not fanfiction. But here I am… like an addict of a drug, wanting more. ((hits self repeatedly on head)) I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't _believe_ I'm doing this! And I know that the moment this is up all of the Phantom Phiction Phans are going to be on my back. Wonderful. Though, if it pleases them any, I'm actually continuing that one, too. Because I'm a sap who can't refuse puppy eyes even when I _can't_ see them. -- Oh well… here's the story! Still.

_Last time on Spying for Dragons:_

"_That's great! My father has an armory full of them—most of them ceremonial, you understand—if you want to go and take a look at them."_

_I nodded vigorously. Thank you, Daystar, for making my life just a little bit easier._

_Not a lot easier, of course… I still had to steal a fake sword, take it to the wizards, pretend that I was pretending to tell the king that the dragons stole the sword, and then start a war that wasn't really a war._

_No problem. No problem at all._

**Chapter Seven: Stealthily Stealing Shiny Sham Swords**

I followed Daystar down the twisting hallways, eyes on the ground. (I didn't bother to keep track of how to get there…trying to do so last time had only given me a headache.) After what seemed like ages, we stopped before a great, heavy wooden door.

"This is the armory." Daystar told me "My father keeps his _most valuable swords_ here. Particularly the _magical_ type."

Okay… he didn't actually think I was _that_ stupid, did he? …_Did_ he? I decided to let that drop and focus on the task at hand. I swallowed, wiping my sweaty palms on my pant legs. "Oh… great."

I even sounded pathetic to my ears. By now, my legs were visibly shaking. _How was I supposed to know which sword was which? Teli—whatshisface said that I would know… but how! And what if the wizards knew it wasn't the right one!_

"So… we will go in now." Daystar told me slowly. This was starting to grate on my nerves. I might not be the brightest in the bunch, but I wasn't _this_ much of an idiot. Really!

"O…K…" I replied equally slowly, just to get back at him. He gave me a decidedly odd look, and I thought I heard him whisper something to Shiara that sounded suspiciously like, _"He doesn't think we're talking in code, does he?"_

I saw Shiara smirk, but to my surprise she didn't make a witty response. I suppose she was worried that the wizards would hear her and find out about our plan. That was fine with me. Not the wizards finding out, I mean, but her not making nasty comments about me. It was an improvement.

Shiara glanced back over her shoulder and said nonchalantly, "So, Samiel, did you do something to make your hair stand on end like that, or is it natural?"

Nevermind.

Shiara only smirked _more_ when I glared at her, and I saw Daystar step on her foot. "You have to be _polite_ remember? Or else your magic won't work."

Shiara just smiled and blinked innocently. "Oh, I know… I can be polite… just not to _him_." Daystar sighed and pushed open the armory door.

I followed behind him, resisting the temptation to step on the hem of Shiara's dress. I _could_ just make it look like an accident… After a moment, I decided against it. Chances were I'd end up tripping myself and crashing into a stone wall.

"So…uhh…" I looked around carefully, suddenly feeling slightly sick. "There are… a lot of swords…" There were. Hundreds. How was I supposed to tell which one to steal! Luckily, though, Daystar stopped beside two swords at the back of the room. They were both beautiful… and they were identical.

"One of these two swords is the most important sword in the entire kingdom. It is the sword of the enchanted forest… the other one is a decoy. There is a riddle that my father made up to tell which is which… do you want to hear it?"

I didn't. I so _totally_ didn't. I wanted him to tell me which was which so that I could pick the right one. Having it told to me…_me_… in a riddle…well, it just wasn't the best idea.

"Okay…the riddle goes like this:

_Two swords shining in the sun_

_But which of them is the real one?_

_Right and left, they look the same_

_They both cause equal physical pain_

_But one of two controls the wood_

_One works as well as the other should_

_Look closely now and you will find_

_That one has a delicate, silver shine_

_The other, however, has a muted glow_

_It is not magical, you should know_

_So here is how you can tell the fake_

_Choose wisely, there's no room for mistake."_

Daystar finished and smiled hopefully at me. I realized how painfully simple they had made the riddle… so simple, it was almost dangerous if the wizards had heard. I stepped forward and peered at the two swords. I was looking for the one with the delicate shine… no! No, that was the real one. I wanted the one with the muted glow. I think.

I looked carefully, and for a moment they both looked exactly the same. Then, just faintly, I thought I could tell the difference between the blades. _Maybe_. They were extremely alike looking, but I thought that the one on the left had more of a muted glow, and the one on the right had more of a shine to it. So… which one was it again?

I thought. I thought really, _really_ hard. But for all that thinking, I definitely couldn't remember which was which in the poem. I was about to ask Daystar to recite it again, but he said, "Well, Shiara, we're late for a meeting with my father…we should probably get going. Samiel, I trust that you will be okay on your own?"

I nodded, but then realized that now was the time to ask him again. Before I could even open my mouth, he was passed me. Shiara was about to leave too, when she stopped. I could see her studying me, and I put on the best pleading face I could. _Did I need to take the one with the silver shine, or the one with the muted glow?_

I could tell Shiara was resisting the urge to roll her eyes at me. "It would be absolutely _horrible_ if someone stole the sword on the **_left_**."

I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at her. Right… I turned to face the two swords, and reached for the one on the left. Then I froze.

Wait… did she mean that I _should_ take the one on the left? Maybe she'd meant that I _shouldn't_ take that one, and it would be terrible if I did! I spun back around, but Shiara had left by then. Now I was alone in the sword room, alone to figure out which was which. The one on the left—the one I was about to take—was the one that I thought had a muted glow. What rhymed with glow? Flow, tow, know, show? But for the life of me I couldn't remember what the line was.

So I went to the one with the silver shine. Shine? I couldn't think of anything that rhymed with it but _mine_, and I knew _that_ wasn't right. I took a deep breath.

Shiara said it would be horrible if someone took the sword on the left. So I steeled myself, closed my eyes…

…and grabbed the sword on the right.

"Do you think he figured out my riddle?" Daystar asked Shiara hopefully as they made their way to the throne room.

"I think he _had_ to… it was almost _painfully_ easy. Still, I gave him another hint on the way out. He _had_ to have known to take the one on the left. He's not _that_ much of an idiot."

Daystar nodded in agreement. "You're right…"

I stepped out of the throne room with the sword wrapped up in a cloth that I had brought. I was confident by now that I had the right one. Thank goodness for Shiara… I would never have figured it out without her.

Abruptly, I realized that I had no idea where to go now. I started to panic, when I saw the signs. There were huge canvases stuck to the walls. The writing on them all read the same thing: DOOR OUTSIDE THIS WAY! Then there were huge red arrows pointing in the same direction.

I smiled happily. Wonderful… they had marked the way out for me! Everything was going to be okay… I was _actually_ going to pull this off!

I hummed to myself as I made my way out. The sword wasn't even that heavy… a good thing, too, or it would have taken _much_ more time to get outside. Finally, I was in the entrance hall. I sprinted across the rest of the way and pushed open the doors.

One of the wizards would be waiting for me by now… they had probably seen me take the sword from the throne room, and were beginning to make their evil plans. Too bad for them it wasn't the _real_ sword! I smiled brightly and made my way into the forest.

I had only taken two steps when a wizard stepped out from a nearby bush. Perfect. I thought that I recognized him… he had a weird name, something like Arachnid… wait, that was a spider, wasn't it? I shrugged inwardly and handed him the sword.

'Arachnid' grabbed it from my hands and pulled the cloth off it. He was examining it closely, and I was worried for a moment that he would be able to tell that it wasn't the right one. Then, at last, he gave me one more suspicious look, and disappeared. I was relieved…

For once in my life, I had actually done something _right_.

(A/N: Poor Samiel. He's not exactly _stupid_… he just definitely has some memory problems. Oh well… I'll update as soon as I finish updating all of my other stories! (There really aren't _that_ many, and I'm home sick today, so I should be able to finish updating a lot of the other ones.)

Hilary


End file.
